In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and the honor of Israel.

Isaiah 4: 2

Isaiah is talking about some very bad times. Destruction has come to rest over the nation, and it has brought about loss and despair for most of the people of the land. Many of the people have been taken away into slavery or killed in battle or by war’s close cousins of disease and famine. Although we don’t need to deal with a situation that is exactly like this one, and I don’t believe that we are the nation of Israel as depicted here; I do believe that we face some very striking parallels to these times in our world today.

People who live in faith, who attempt to follow Christ in all aspects of life, are becoming more and more challenged by our culture and by our governments. There is an ever growing open antagonism to our Lord in our world. Its legitimacy, power, and persuasion seem to grow on an almost daily basis. There are times and places where the chatter of our world sounds like an anti-God liturgy being spoken with great fervor by a hoard of zealous devotees. It would seem that this planet of ours has become a hostile environment for followers of Christ. But we shouldn’t give in to despair or stop living openly in praise and worship of our true King.

If Isaiah’s words carry with them truth for our times, then we should take great encouragement from them. The promise here is that it is in the very darkest of times that the glory of the Lord shines the brightest. Christ’s presence stands in stark contrast to the human pride and angry shouting of our world. Our Lord brings grace, mercy, understanding, healing, and peace where our culture grants none of these to its followers. Christ also grants purpose and mission to His followers. When we are faced with godlessness, we can rely on Christ to show us His righteousness. As we encounter the oppression that is rampant in our world, we can follow our Lord in our reliance on God’s Word with its eternal perspective as our foundation of truth to use in response. Christ calls upon His own people to trust in Him absolutely and to follow Him with unwavering commitment so that we bring the sweet fruit of Christ’s message of salvation to our spiritually starved land.